The Reds Just Made A Big Change In The Way Fans Can Buy Tickets Down At Fountain Square

It may have been a hidden gem in downtown Cincinnati, but for many, the Cincinnati Reds ticket kiosk located on Fountain Square was one of the easiest, convenient, and most importantly- most affordable way to buy Reds tickets. Now, all those aspects have changed, and the ATM-like machine will only be able to provide pre-ordered tickets, which will be charging fees that it previously did not.

As first reported by the Cincinnati Business Courier, the kiosk which is run by the Reds ticketing operation, was a great service that allowed fans to purchase tickets right at the stand with no pesky processing charges added on it to. Fans who may have been stopping by the Square before the game, or those who live or work downtown could easily stop by the kiosk and purchase tickets. Now, fans will only be able to use the kiosk as a will-call like resource by ordering tickets through TicketMaster and the MLB At-Bat app. And as mentioned…that means fees are abound.

View of kiosk from inside at Fountain Square.

MLB is partnered with TicketMaster for its ticketing operations, which means for the consumer- processing fees. For a ticket that could be previous purchased at the kiosk for a flat $35, it will now “…include a $5 fee per ticket and a $4.25 processing fee per order.” Processing fees vary by quantity and price of face value, but it’s obvious that this changes the game.

Vice president of ticketing and business operations, Aaron Eisel, told the Business Courier the reasons for morphing the kiosk into an automatic will-call machine, “Fans have increased their purchasing and printing of tickets at home from reds.com and using MLB’s At Bat app on their smartphones. The kiosks are best optimized as Will Call since so many fans park near there and walk to the ballpark.”

The Reds are currently 13th (out of 30 teams) in attendance, according to ESPN.com. The Reds are currently 7.5 games out of the NL Central lead.